A recent FairVote fund-raising letter points out that in U.S. history, major changes in elections occur every 50 years, at least since the period following the Civil War.

In the years 1868-1870, the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution were ratified. The 14th amendment is the closest the Constitution gets to including a right to vote, and the 15th amendment was the first amendment to the Constitution that expanded the franchise, regardless of the wishes of the individual states. It banned the denial of voting on the basis of race, color or previous condition of servitude.

The years 1913-1920 saw amendments to require the direct election of U.S. Senators, and to prevent states from denying voting on the basis of sex. That decade also saw the implementation of direct primaries in most states, although some states had started in the 1900’s decade.

The years 1965-1972 saw the federal Voting Rights Act (a tardy means of enforcing the 15th amendment), and U.S. Supreme Court decisions that said the 14th amendment does not permit the states to use unequal-population districts, does not permit the states to entirely prevent new political parties and independent candidates from getting on the ballot, and does not permit the states to prevent certain classes of people from voting (for example, people who move into a state fairly close to an election, or people who don’t own property).

If the 50-year cycle still holds, the U.S. may see significant election law changes during the 2010’s decade. There are still 3 significant groups of competent adult citizens who are denied the franchise in some parts of the nation: (1) residents of the territories and the District of Columbia; (2) members of parties other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, as well as supporters of independent candidates; (3) felons and ex-felons.